Autopsy Reveals How Hargons Died

Autopsy results show that Michael Hargon was shot to death while his wife and their four-year-old son were strangled. The findings were made public Wednesday, just hours after relatives of the Hargon family arranged Friday funerals for the slain family.

Michael, Rebecca and James Patrick Hargon disappeared from their rural Yazoo County home on Valentine's Day. Their bodies were found Monday in Covington County.

Public Safety Commissioner Rusty Fortenberry told The Associated Press that with the results, as horrific as they are, the healing process can begin.

Highway Patrol spokesman Warren Strain said the fatal wound suffered by Michael Hargon, 27, was to the head. Authorities had said earlier that a .22-caliber weapon was fired at the Hargon home in the rural Vaughan community, where large amounts of blood and spent bullet casings were found.

District Attorney James Powell said later that, while investigators were convinced Michael Hargon had died at the scene, they were unsure whether Rebecca Hargon, 29, and their son, James Patrick, were alive when abducted.

Earnest Lee Hargon, a former cattle truck driver and Michael Hargon's cousin, is charged with capital murder in the deaths.

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